Attempts at Honesty

Reflections on the interplay of the Bible and Culture

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Jesus does not agree with this church marquee . . .

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A friend of mine, @jimworth, tweeted a link to this picture:

Jesus Doesn't Agree

The problem with this statement is that Jesus doesn’t agree. In John 14:6, Jesus is recorded as saying, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

Jesus made a definitive statement that only those that believe and trust in himself will get to Heaven. This is an exclusive claim. You must choose to accept this as true or declare it to be false, there is no middle ground. It can’t be “sorta” true. Jesus won’t allow you to think of him as just another spiritually enlightened man. He is not just another prophet. He is the way or he is not the way.

If Jesus is correct in his statement, then all other religions are false and Christianity is the only true religion.

If Jesus is wrong and there are many ways to get to Heaven, then Jesus is irrelevant and Christianity is a waste of time. If Christianity is just a bunch or rules or moral principles, then it has very little to offer.

But if Jesus is correct, and Christianity is true, then we are offered a way of being in right relationship with God. Jesus is that way.

You can’t have it both ways. You cannot worship Jesus and declare other religions to be equally true. You have to make a choice. Jesus demands that choice.

What this church presents may be new but it is definitely not Christianity.

Tozer: the truth about exposition –

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I received an email containing the quote from A. W. Tozer and thought it worth sharing:

Sound Bible exposition is an imperative must in the Church of the Living God. Without it no church can be a New Testament church in any strict meaning of that term. But exposition may be carried on in such way as to leave the hearers devoid of any true spiritual nourishment whatever. For it is not mere words that nourish the soul, but God Himself, and unless and until the hearers find God in personal experience they are not the better for having heard the truth. The Bible is not an end in itself, but a means to bring men to an intimate and satisfying knowledge of God, that they may enter into Him, that they may delight in His presence, may taste and know the inner sweetness of the very God Himself in the core and center of their hearts.

via CQOD—Tozer: the truth about exposition.

Ed Stetzer – Legalism, “The Help,” and a “Woman’s Place”

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I haven’t seen “The Help”, it really didn’t seem that interesting to me. But I like what Ed Stetzer says in this blog post and offer the link for your edification. Legalism is dangerous and inhibits spiritual growth.

Ed Stetzer – Legalism, “The Help,” and a “Woman’s Place”.

Hugging Porcupines and Other Ostensibly Stupid Behaviors

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The Porcupines Among Us

PorcupineEvery church has one or more porcupines in attendance. The porcupine is the person who feels entitled to stand in judgment of the church and often acts in a way that is disruptive to body life through their sense of superiority and entitlement. They are not in open hostility, nor are they doing anything worthy of church discipline, yet they cause problems as a result of their prickly nature.

Dealing with Porcupines

The best response to a porcupine in the wild is to leave it alone and hope it goes away. While we might want our church porcupines to do just that, often they do not. How then are we to respond to the porcupines that refuse to go away?

While the porcupines in our church are not really enemies, Jesus’ teaching in Matthew 5:38-48 is instructive for dealing with them. Jesus tells us to do some things to our enemies that most people would think are weird or just plain stupid. In response to our enemies, we are called to:

  • Turn the other cheek
  • Give more than is asked
  • Go the extra mile
  • Love our enemies
  • Pray for those who persecute us
  • Greet your enemies (be friendly)
  • Do all these things perfectly

If this is the response to enemies that are dangerous, what then is the response to the porcupines who are merely annoying? I think that we are to embrace them and welcome them. The problem is that when you hug a porcupine, you’re going to feel the pain of the barbs. Many or most of the barbs will be aimed at church leadership, the very people who are trying to help. It is easy to give up and avoid the porcupine, but that is really not an option.

If we wonder about the wisdom of this, I think that it is instructive to look at Jesus’ interaction with the disciples. They were often slow on the uptake and occasionally abrasive. Jesus did not loose patience with them even when they displayed their worst behavior.

The Benefit of Porcupines

I think that God gives us porcupines for the same reason he gave Paul his thorn in the flesh (2 Corinthians 12:7). Without the porcupines, we might loose sight of the fact of our dependence upon God. We might start believing that we have mastered church leadership. We might start relying on our abilities rather than on our Savior.

While we may not really enjoy porcupines, we can rest in the knowledge that God has them there for a purpose and we cannot see the end result. As with the disciples, many church leaders began their Christian walk as porcupines. So do not loose hope. God is not done with the porcupines or us as leaders.

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